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{{Short description|Japanese statutory corporation}} {{About|the former operator of postal services in Japan|the current operator|Japan Post Holdings}} {{Infobox company | name = Japan Post | native_name = 日本郵政公社 | native_name_lang = ja | romanized_name = Nippon Yūsei Kōsha | logo = [[Image:Japan post logo.png|200px|Logo|border]] | type = [[Statutory corporation]] | foundation = {{start date and age|2003|4|1|df=yes}}, by reorganization of the Postal Services Agency | fate = Privatized | defunct = {{end date|2007|10|1|df=yes}} | location_city = [[Kasumigaseki]], [[Chiyoda, Tokyo|Chiyoda]], [[Tokyo]] | location_country = Japan | key_people = [[Maejima Hisoka]] | industry = [[Courier]] | predecessor = Postal Services Agency of the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications|Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications]] | successor = [[Japan Post Holdings]] | revenue = {{profit}} ¥23,061 billion [[Japanese yen|JPY]] (2006) | net_income = {{profit}} ¥1,993 billion [[Japanese yen|JPY]] (2006) | num_employees = 256,572 ([[Full-time job|full-time]], 2006) | divisions = Postal Service, Postal Savings, Postal Life Insurance | homepage = }} [[File:Japan_Post.jpg|thumb|Japan Post Office head office building]] {{Nihongo|'''Japan Post'''|日本郵政公社|Nippon Yūsei Kōsha}} was a Japanese [[statutory corporation]] that existed from 2003 to 2007, offering postal and package delivery services, [[Retail banking|banking services]], and life insurance. It is the nation's largest employer, with over 400,000 [[employee]]s, and runs 24,700 [[post office]]s throughout Japan. One third of all Japanese government employees work for Japan Post. As of 2005, the President of the company was [[Masaharu Ikuta]], formerly Chairman of [[Mitsui O.S.K. Lines|Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd]]. Japan Post ran the world's largest [[postal savings system]] and is often said to be the largest holder of personal savings in the world: with ¥224 [[Trillion (short scale)|trillion]] ($2.1 trillion) of household assets in its ''yū-cho'' savings accounts, and ¥126 trillion ($1.2 trillion) of household assets in its ''kampo'' life insurance services; its holdings account for 25 percent of household assets in Japan. Japan Post also holds about ¥140 trillion (one fifth) of the Japanese national debt in the form of government bonds. On October 1, 2007, Japan Post was [[Postal service privatization|privatized]] following a fierce political debate that was settled by the [[2005 Japan general election|general election of 2005]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maclachlan |first=Patricia L. |date=2024 |title=Mechanisms of Resistance: Informal Institutional Impediments to Japanese Postal Privatization |url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny/cp/pre-prints/content-jcpo2406;jsessionid=3gjqpdu8gixro.x-ic-live-02 |website=Comparative Politics |language=en |doi=10.5129/001041524x17292553869970}}</ref> The major concern was Japan Post, with government backing, stymieing competition and giving politicians access to postal savings to fund pet projects.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|title=Japan Post's zombie privatization is warning to Shinzo Abe|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Japan-Post-s-zombie-privatization-is-warning-to-Shinzo-Abe|access-date=2020-07-16|website=Nikkei Asian Review|language=en-GB}}</ref> Japan Post was split into three companies in 2007, intending to be privatized by 2017.<ref name=":02" /> Following privatization, [[Japan Post Holdings]] operate the postal business. In 2010, the privatization was put on hold, with the [[Ministry of Finance (Japan)|Japanese Ministry of Finance]] remaining the 100% shareholder. However, on October 26, 2012, the [[Japan]]ese [[government]] unveiled plans to list shares of Japan Post Holdings within three years, partly to raise [[money]] for the reconstruction of areas devastated by the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|earthquake and tsunami of 2011]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japanpost-ipo-idUSBRE89P03420121026|title=Japan govt aims to list Japan Post in three years|date=October 26, 2012 |work= Reuters }}</ref> As of 2020, the government still holds 57% of shares, and March 2028 was announced as the target date of [[privatization]].<ref name=":02" /> In October 2021, the Japanese government completed its majority privatisation process of Japan Post Holdings, but also still maintained control of most of the company's stock.<ref name=someprivate>{{cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/10/06/business/japan-post-share-sell/|title=Japan to sell 27% of Japan Post to raise reconstruction funds|agency=Reuters|publisher=The Japan Times|date=October 21, 2021|accessdate=December 11, 2021}}</ref><ref name=mostnotprivate>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/d4c3420e-124b-4bee-8e8a-df534d45947b |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/d4c3420e-124b-4bee-8e8a-df534d45947b |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Japan Post pushes ahead with $9bn share sale|first1=Leo|last1=Lewis|first2=Kana|last2=Inagaki|publisher=Financial Times|date=2021-10-06|accessdate=2021-12-08}}</ref> ==Postal privatization== The company was born on April 2, 2003, as a government-owned corporation, replacing the old {{nihongo|Postal Services Agency of the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications|Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications]]|総務省郵政事業庁|Sōmu-shō Yūsei Jigyōchō}}. Japan Post's formation was part of then [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Junichiro Koizumi]]'s long-term reform plan and was intended to culminate in the full [[privatization]] of the postal service. The privatization plan encountered both support and opposition across the Japanese political spectrum, including the two largest parties, the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|LDP]] and the [[Democratic Party of Japan|DPJ]]. Opponents claimed that the move would result in the closure of post offices and job losses at the nation's largest employer. However, proponents contended that privatization would allow for a more efficient and flexible use of the company's funds, which would help revitalize Japan's economy. Proponents also claimed that Japan Post had become an enormous source of corruption and patronage. Koizumi called the privatization a major element in his efforts to curb government spending and the growth of the national debt. Most opposition parties supported postal privatization in principle, but criticized Koizumi's bill. Many considered the bill deeply flawed because it provided for too long a period for full implementation and included too many loopholes that might create a privatization in name only. In September 2003, Koizumi's cabinet proposed splitting Japan Post into four separate companies: a bank, an insurance company, a postal service company, and a fourth company to handle the post offices as retail outlets for the other three entities. Each of these companies would be privatized in April 2007. In 2005, the [[lower house|Lower House]] of the [[Japanese Diet|Japanese legislature]] passed the bill to complete this reform by a handful of votes, with many members of Koizumi's LDP voting against their own government. The bill was subsequently defeated in the [[House of Councillors|Upper House]] because of scores of defections from the ruling coalition. Koizumi immediately dissolved the lower house and scheduled [[2005 Japan general election|a general election]] to be held on September 11, 2005. He declared the election to be a referendum on postal privatization. Koizumi won this election, gaining the necessary [[supermajority]] in the lower house, which he took as a mandate for reform. The final version of the bill to privatize Japan Post in 2007 was passed in October 2005.<ref>Takahara, "All Eyes on Japan Post"{{cite news | first = Anthony | last = Faiola | title = Japan Approves Postal Privatization | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/14/AR2005101402163.html | newspaper = Washington Post | page = A10 | date = 15 October 2005 | access-date = 9 February 2007}}</ref> It officially abolished Japan Post, with its branches broken up into a [[Shareholder|shareholding company]] and four other companies for postal service, postal savings, postal life insurance, and post office service networks.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Contemporary Government Reform in Japan: The Dual State in Flux|url=https://archive.org/details/contemporarygove00kawa|url-access=limited|last=Kawabata|first=Eiji|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2006|isbn=9781403971128|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/contemporarygove00kawa/page/n100 84]}}</ref> The legislation provided a 10-year transition period wherein the savings and insurance companies would be fully privatized while the government would still continue to be involved with the three other companies.<ref name=":0" /> The law also stated that Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance are to go public in 2010 and their shares would be made available to the market two years later.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Asia's Turning Point: An Introduction to Asia's Dynamic Economies at the Dawn of the New Century|last1=Tselichtchev|first1=Ivan|last2=Debroux|first2=Philippe|publisher=John Wiley & sons|year=2012|isbn=9781118580622|location=Hoboken}}</ref><ref name="postandparcel">{{Cite web|date=2021-06-16|title=Japan Post to deliver mail by drone by 2023|url=https://postandparcel.info/138625/news/e-commerce/japan-post-to-deliver-mail-by-drone-by-2023/|access-date=2021-07-15|website=Post & Parcel|language=en-US}}</ref> However, the majority privatisation process, which nonetheless saw the Japanese government still maintain control of one-third of the company's stock, was completed in October 2021.<ref name=someprivate /><ref name=mostnotprivate /> The Japanese government also still remains the company's largest stockholder.<ref name=someprivate /><ref name=mostnotprivate /> == Concerns and opportunities == There were fears that the postal service branch of the Japan Post would be disadvantaged after its break from the banking and insurance branches. It is believed that it was losing money and is merely subsidized by the two financial divisions, which are more profitable.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Progress toward Liberalization of the Postal and Delivery Sector|url=https://archive.org/details/progresstowardli00crew|url-access=limited|last1=Crew|first1=Michael|last2=Kleindorfer|first2=Paul|publisher=Springer|year=2006|isbn=9780387297439|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/progresstowardli00crew/page/n408 395]}}</ref> To cover a lack of financial resources, many observers advocated for diversification in order to attain profitability. This includes a potential entry into the [[Logistics|logistics business]], which Japan Post itself has signified it would pursue post-privatization.<ref name=":1" /> Studies also revealed that the new companies are poised to gain from emerging opportunities in the market. Aside from international logistics, there are also [[securitization]], [[Credit|consumer lending]], and [[health care]], among others.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="postandparcel"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-29|title=Japan Post to honor Tokyo Olympics medalists with golden mailboxes|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/06/29/national/golden-mailboxes-for-olympic-medals/|access-date=2021-07-15|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US|archive-date=2023-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224091849/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/06/29/national/golden-mailboxes-for-olympic-medals/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Check out 's stock price (6178.T-JP) in real time|url=https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/6178.T-JP|access-date=2021-07-15|website=CNBC|language=en}}</ref> ==See also== * [[Postage stamps and postal history of Japan]] * [[Japanese addressing system]] * [[Missing Post Office]] * [[Package delivery]] ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==References== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070312223651/http://www.japanpost.jp/top/disclosure/e2006/pdf/cover.pdf Japan Post Annual Report 2006] (Wayback Machine archive) * {{cite web | last = Takahara | first = Kanako | date = September 29, 2007 | url = http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070929f1.html | title = All Eyes on Japan Post as Privatization Begins | format = Newspaper article | work = [[Japan Times]] | access-date = 1 February 2008 }} * [http://news.ft.com/cms/s/f164c3a0-07cb-11da-97a6-00000e2511c8.html Koizumi Loses Postal Reform Vote in Upper House, Calls for New Elections] * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4651155.stm Koizumi Wins Postal Reform Vote in Lower House] ==External links== * [https://www.japanpost.jp/en/ Japan Post Holding Group] ** {{Official website|www.post.japanpost.jp/about/index_en.html}} ** [http://www.jp-bank.japanpost.jp/en_index.html Japan Post Bank] ** [http://www.jp-life.japanpost.jp/en/aboutus/company/en_abt_cmp_index.html Japan Post Insurance] * [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/52/52301.html Yahoo! – Japan Post Company Profile] {{Postal administrations of Asia}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:Postal organizations]] [[Category:Japan Post Holdings]] [[Category:Government-owned companies based in Tokyo]] [[Category:Transport companies established in 2003]] [[Category:Transport companies disestablished in 2007]]
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